1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a container for the purpose of collecting, counting, weighing for blood loss and disposal of surgical sponges and more particularly to a disposable container which is adapted to receive both large and small sponges. The container may be tightly closed into a relatively sealed condition for disposal of the sponges after all of the sponges have been accounted for at the completion of a surgical procedure.
During surgical procedures, absorbent sponges are used to absorb body fluid around the site of the surgical incision. The surgical sponges are normally provided in two sizes--4".times.4" gauze sponges and 14".times.14" laparotomy sponges. Sponges are counted prior to the start of surgery and must be accounted for before the end of surgery. According to established standards, the 4".times.4" sponges are counted in groups of 10, and the 14".times.14" sponges are counted in groups of 5. In the past, used sponges have been discarded into kick buckets, removed and sorted according to size. It is essential that all of the used sponges be accounted for at the end of the surgical procedure in order to assure that no sponges have been left in the patient's body at the conclusion of surgery.
2. Description of The Prior Art
Various types of containers have been proposed in the past for receiving used surgical sponges and examples of these same containers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,481,462; 3,948,390; 4,422,548; 4,234,086 and 4,361,231. Another sponge container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,553,232 which is directed primarily to a receptacle for dental sponges. U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,890 also discloses a container for disposing of used surgical sponges. Additionally, containers for receiving used surgical sponges are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,190,153 and 4,312,447. All of the above enumerated patents are directed to containers for collection and disposal of surgical sponges which have drawbacks which have been overcome by applicant's invention which permits the counting and disposal of different sized sponges in a single unitary disposable container which is sealed at the conclusion of a surgical procedure and permits visually a fast and accurate counting of the used sponges after the container is closed without handling the individual sponges. Additionally, the tightly closed container of the instant invention permits the determination of the amount of blood loss during a surgical procedure since the container and sponges are weighed in the unused or clean condition prior to the surgical procedure and are weighed during or at the conclusion of the surgical procedure to determine the amount of blood the surgical patient has lost. Furthermore, the tightly closed disposable container decreases the direct contact of operating room personnel with the patient's blood which is extremely important in avoiding exposure to blood which is contaminated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome cells or hepatitis cells should the surgical patient have one of these diseases.